Dee Dee DuBois
Literary Analysis of "A Mysery of Heroism"*
The short story
"A
Mystery of Heroism” seems to convey much about Stephen Crane's antipathy towards
war and the concept of heroism. Crane was against the war movement and many parts
of this story reflect his unconventional views. His message is that of the
senselessness of war and how men are persuaded by propaganda to believe the glory
of battle is worth their lives. The entire story of the soldier's quest for
water from the well is actually an allegory for the futility of war.. When
Collins' superior officers are discussing his fetching the water in the middle of
the battle, one of them says, " We ain't dyin' of thirst, are we? That's
foolishness.” This statement contradicts the belief that war is worth all that
is sacrificed. Whatever it is we're fighting about is not of such dire
importance as to take such unecessary risks, and so casually. "When Collins faced
the meadow and walked away from the regiment he was vaguely conscious that a
chasm, the deep valley of all prides, was suddenly between him and his comrades.
It was provisional, but the provision was that he return as a victor. He had
blindly been led by quaint emotions and laid himself under an obligation to walk
squarely up to the face of death."
This passage so closely parallels what the American government does to men
during war time. Men are not even cognizant most of the time of the pressure
that is being put on them to "walk squarely up to the face of death" by going
into battle for their country. Crane also tries to bring to light a more human
and realistic view of a soldier as opposed to the idealistic fantasy of a hero.
He tries to show that "heroes [are] not much", that they are human just like the
rest of us. He gives several examples of how Collins is trying to justify that
he does not fit the characterization of a hero: "he had often been...irritable,
childish, diabolical." Again Crane seems to be mocking this American paragon of
what a hero is supposed to be and that they are really nothing more than human
beings who are forced to be heroes because of the situation. The culmination of
Crane's feelings towards war occurs at the end of the story when, after all of
Collins' bravery and peril, "the bucket [of water] lay on the ground empty."
After all the pain and suffering of war, you come out with nothing in the end;
anything that was accomplished was not worth what was lost. *edited by
Christopher Cawthon, Damon Martin Hay, and Kathleen Yowler
9/3/96